Statesville Awarded for Training Excellence

RJG, Inc., the recognized leader in injection molding training, has awarded Mack’s Statesville, N.C., facility for embracing scientific molding strategies and applying them within the organization. “Applying the knowledge is really at the heart of this award,” says Plant Manager Joe Carinci. “We have converted all active jobs to the scientific molding approach, which we will also apply to all new jobs as they come through the door.”

It wasn’t an overnight process, however. RJG initially audited the Statesville facility to determine areas for improvement. With management support, they set up a training timeline, which started with basic level training, followed by systematic molding training and decoupled workshops for hands-on training.

Spearheaded by Keith Hutchins, manufacturing engineering manager, and Bobby Sherrill, molding process engineer, the program has now touched some 48 people in the molding department and beyond. Sherrill has even completed Master Molder II training.

“As a result, we’re seeing standardized cycle times and part weights,” says Carinci. “But perhaps even more importantly, everyone is on the same page in terms of how to approach problems and troubleshoot. We’re resolving issues more quickly, and reducing scrap and downtime.”

The Statesville plant will continue to push the program out to more employees throughout the coming year, and has another decoupled workshop scheduled for January 2016. The Inman, S.C., plant has also trained 16 employees in systematic molding, followed by the hands-on workshop in the molding room, as has Mack’s Northern division.